This original production written by Mallory Vance and Megan Markham,Fictional First Dates is a sixty minute musical that tells the story of Carson Devaraux and his search for a date to his sister’s wedding. With the help of his best friend Piper, a Batista, and a little app called Sparkler, Carson goes on a series of dates with pop culture characters from
Avatar Korra to Lavender Brown to Eowyn and many more who arrive at Cafe
Nirvana. Along the way he makes new friends and discovers that dating fictional crushes might not be all it’s cracked up to be.
The rehearsal began with a musical number in which the
cast of 8 celebrated all the perfect women who could be found with the app. A sweet telephone bell sound announced when a perfect match had been found. The first date was hilarious, with a woman who talked so fast and was so scattered that Carson never got a word in before she bolted. One musical number with the two bachelors reminded me of a Sondheim song. The lyrics were so fun and endearing however that I had to applaud. I found is funny when it was noted that even a Marvel comics character would be challenged dating today.
Dates happened seated stage left or stage right and sometimes at both tables. Coffee seemed to be this shows elixir of love. It was entertaining and frightening to see how easy it was for the dates to crash and burn. The women ranged from sweet and high spirited to a dangerous warrior princess. To me it seemed obvious that Carson’s best friend Piper was the perfect date, but their platonic relationship blew up in a rage. His fictional crushes kept him from seeing the importance of the friend he had come to rely on.
The play ends on an inspired high note with the entire cast singing on stage. Like seemed to attract like and the imagined was replaced by the real. I was laughing out loud through the whole show. The show has a very short run, so do at miss your chance to experience the comic dangers of dating from the safety of your theater seat.
Marshall Ellis Theatre 1300 La Quinta Dr #3, Orlando, FL 32809
Remaining show times are:
Saturday January 21, 2017 from 7pm to 8:30pm
Sunday January 22, 2017 from 2pm to 3:30pm